In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

As he prepares to leave office, Paul Kennedy wishes he could tell Canadians that the job of being head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP will be in good hands. But he can't.

Unless the federal government announces a successor by year's end - which is unlikely - no one will be in charge of civilian oversight of our troubled national police force.

"When I'm gone, there will be nobody to sign any decisions or reports," said Mr. Kennedy, who was commissioner of the CPC for four years. "There will be no one to authorize further investigations, to initiate complaints against the RCMP, nothing. Civilian oversight will be dead in the water."

In a wide-ranging interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Kennedy painted a disturbing picture of the state of civilian oversight of the RCMP. Although the federal government has hinted at plans to enhance the CPC's powers, including independent investigations, Mr. Kennedy isn't convinced.

The Conservative government promised him the same thing and never delivered, he said. Mr. Kennedy urged the public to be vigilant for signs of the "politicians' moonwalk" - a phenomenon in which elected leaders introduce legislation that gives the illusion of giant steps forward, but "really what they're doing is sliding backwards."

"I've seen it before," said Mr. Kennedy, who was a federal prosecutor before becoming one of the most respected civil servants in Ottawa.

At the CPC, Mr. Kennedy frequently clashed with the RCMP over issues including taser use and police investigating themselves. He was never reluctant to put heat on the federal government to give the CPC the power to conduct thorough and competent investigations.

He declined to discuss speculation that he was let go because the Mounties and the Conservatives had had enough of his public criticisms. The federal government did not tell him why it did not extend his contract.

Mr. Kennedy never hid his frustration over many aspects of the relationship between his commission and the RCMP. And as he prepares to depart, it is evident many of the problems he identified early in his mandate still exist. Such as:

Powers: The CPC needs to be able to subpoena RCMP records and compel officers to testify under oath. Without that authority, it will never truly get to the bottom of any investigation. "If you don't have access to all the information you have a credibility problem," Mr. Kennedy said.

Funding: Some of the CPC's best work was in 2008, when it took in-depth looks at taser use and police investigating police. These broader reviews that allowed the CPC to see if systemic issues were behind individual complaints led to some of the most important recommendations of Mr. Kennedy's commission. But Ottawa took away the funding that allowed this after one year.

"If I can't do that work then I don't know there's a problem," Mr. Kennedy said. "And if I can't identify a problem then everything's perfect, isn't it?"

Complaints: All complaints against the RCMP should go to the CPC first. Many don't, including serious allegations. The RCMP often handle these "informally." This shouldn't happen, Mr. Kennedy said. "The police have an interest ... in suppressing the actual complaints themselves or the number of complaints," he said.

Funding II: The CPC's base budget is $5.1-million. For the past few years, it has received an extra $3.1-million to do outreach work that the commission used to make itself known, to aboriginal communities in particular. It is in danger of losing this money. Mr. Kennedy estimates the CPC needs $15-million to $17-million annually to carry out its functions. That is a fraction of what similar agencies around the world get. "If the CPC's budget goes back to $5.1-million, then you're effectively putting it on life support," Mr. Kennedy said.

Delays: When Mr. Kennedy finishes looking into a civilian complaint, his report goes to the RCMP. Often the force takes ages to respond. In one case it was 805 days, in another 734. This is a problem for many reasons. In some cases the conduct of an officer constitutes grounds for criminal charges, such as common assault. But there is a limitation period under the criminal code of six months to a year for that charge to be laid. Hanging on to a report ensures the RCMP that its officers can't be criminally charged or even internally disciplined.

Mr. Kennedy said the Mounties carry out many activities under the guise of national security that get no public scrutiny.

"If you're a national security target being looked at by the RCMP, you don't know you're being looked at, so you're not in a position to complain that you're under surveillance or being wiretapped or whatever may be going on," Mr. Kennedy said. After four years of trying to shed light into the dark corners of our national police force, he says the time has long since past for the government and the RCMP to agree on a oversight formula in which the public can have faith.

"There is a great deal riding on it," he said. "The government and RCMP need to produce meaningful change. It needs to show that they understand the force has a major problem that needs to be fixed."

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taser-Related Deaths = 1043+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to a Reuters investigation, Shock Tactics - Part 1 - The Toll, published on August 22, 2017, more than 150 autopsy reports have cited tasers as the cause or contributor to deaths across the U.S. That number may be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

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Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

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My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

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2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

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80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."